


Mint Leaves

by SilverMyfanwy



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe, Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:36:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29532090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMyfanwy/pseuds/SilverMyfanwy
Summary: Natasha and Bucky find a toddler being held prisoner on a HYDRA base and break her out. She latches onto them and suddenly they seem to be parents.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Original Female Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov & Original Female Character(s), Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker and Original Female Character(s), Wanda Maximoff & Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff & Original Female Character(s), Wanda Maximoff & Peter Parker
Comments: 33
Kudos: 80
Collections: WinterWidow, oc self insertSI





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hittooclosetohome](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hittooclosetohome/gifts).



> For hittooclosetohome.  
> I'm so sorry you've waited this long!  
> Inspired by this prompt: a toddler is found on a HYDRA base because they’re experimenting with genetics or cloning or something. Said toddler immediately latches on to Bucky and Nat. Tony gets them paperwork and a birth certificate for the kid, and domestic fluff+/h/c ensues.
> 
> Chapter warnings in end notes.
> 
> There's a lot of dialogue where the characters are speaking in Russian, but I haven't marked it out from when they're speaking English as it would take too long. I will explain more in the next chapter.

The plane was unusually quiet as they flew into Bulgaria. Steve and Clint were already there; they’d been staking out a HYDRA base for the past week and now the rest of the Avengers were coming in to help finish the place off.

“Okay folks.” Tony pulled up a 3D projection of information from the floor. “There’s the map. I’m going in the side and Natasha takes the back. Steve's going to meet up with Bucky and Clint will go with Natasha. Thor, if I tell you to, you wait outside and see if you see people escaping. If you do, blast them.”

“And what about the Hulk?” Thor asked.

“He's staying in here unless we need him. If we need him.” Bruce said. “I’ll monitor everything from here and if the big guy’s needed, JARVIS will alert Wanda and she will monitor everything from the Tower.”

“We should be landing in a couple of minutes.” Tony said, checking a control panel. “Finish getting ready.”

They did as they were told, though they had all been ready not long after take-off. The jet landed on the side of a hill and the landing gate opened.

“See you later, Bruce.” Tony flipped his helmet down and their comms crackled to life. “Rogers, Barnes is on the way.”

-

Natasha made no move to acknowledge Clint in his position in the roof of the base as she stalked towards the door. The building was long and low; slate grey walls and slate grey roof. They’d made no attempt to hide it, but, here, tucked away between a forest and a pair of mossy hills in the Bulgarian wilderness, anyone who came across it would turn and run, or presume it belonged to the army. There was a single dirt track running past the front, which had an enormous barn door on the front. Natasha had no doubt that there were security cameras watching her every move, but Tony’s tech would have taken care of that.

15 seconds before she reached the door, there was a slight gust of wind over her head followed by an adapted arrow striking the door and blowing it open. Natasha pulled her collar over her mouth and began to run into the smoke and the flames A siren started to wail and a red light opposite the doorway started flashing. She pulled out her widow bites and ran along the corridor. More and more alarms went off along with more and more explosions. There was screaming of fear and screaming of fury.

Natasha was headed for a records room on the third floor of the base. While Steve, Clint and Tony blew the top floor to pieces, it was her job to deal with the record room while Bucky searched the second floor and then Clint would help her set the explosives to blow up the fourth floor, the lowest level of the base that Steve and Clint had scouted. If there was more below it, not even Tony’s tech had been able to detect it. She wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary when she got to the computers. They were following a particular paper trail for a particularly awful operative currently stuck in a cell in France; they were getting all the evidence they could against him before his trial.

Natasha never made it to the computers.

“Natasha.” Bucky's voice sounded shaky over the comms. Everyone's voice sounded shaky over the comms to Natasha when she was running full pelt through a slightly-on-fire building with adrenaline thumping in her ears. This time, however, it sounded like Bucky's voice would have been shaky even if she’d been standing right next to him.

“Yeah?”

“Wanda just called me. She’s seen something on the map; a flickering red light. In the cell block. She thinks it’s a person.”

“But I thought they didn’t have any prisoners here.” Natasha said.

“So did I.”

“I’ll go and look.” Natasha changed her course and ran until someone jumped on her from behind and knocked her to the ground. She twisted and elbowed her backwards, thrashing, until she felt her elbow collider with her attacker’s flesh.

“You won’t get her.” the attacker snarled in Russian.

Natasha, internally, was panicking. Externally she hit her attacker quite hard on the head and probably fractured his skull. Or killed him. Either way, he stopped moving and said no more. She picked herself up from the floor. “Bruce?”

“Yeah?”

“I think Wanda might be right. Someone just said that we wouldn’t be able to get ‘her’.”

“I’ll run some extra scans.”

Natasha ran. She reached the entrance to the cell block and found the doorway blocked with bars; an emergency procedure. “Hello!”

There was no sound other than the sirens.

“Bruce? Have you hacked the systems?” Natasha asked.

“No.” Bruce said.

“I have!” Tony said cheerily. “What do you want done?”

“I need to get into the cell block.”

“Alright. But be quick; we need to make sure everything else goes on time.”

A few seconds later, the bars slid up into the ceiling and as soon as they were high enough, Natasha dashed underneath. “Hello?” she walked quickly past the cells, checking each one with barely more than a second of looking at it. They were all empty, with no sign of anyone or anything.

Then Natasha reached the end of the cells and she froze.

Sat in a corner of the final cell block on her left was a child of about three or four years old. They had dirty shoulder length hair and was clinging to a worn blanket.

“I’ve found her.” Natasha whispered. “It’s worse than I thought. She’s under five. Mission change: we’re getting her out of here. Send me Bucky. I need him to help me get into the cell.”

“On it.”

Natasha crouched down next to the wall separating the walkway from the cell and smiled at the child. “Hello.” she reached out a hand. “My name’s Natasha. What’s your name?”

The child stared at her with wide eyes.

“I’m Natasha.” Natasha tried again, in Russian. “”Hi.”

 _Hi_ the child mouthed back.

“What’s your name?” Natasha asked softly.

“Maggie.”

“In a minute, my friend’s going to come and help me open this door and then you’re going to come with me, okay?”

Maggie was silent but she moved forwards and held her arms out to Natasha.

Natasha prayed that Bucky would hurry up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same warnings as last chapter, for a small child being held prisoner by HYDRA and traumatised by this. Canon-typical violence.

Bucky was with Natasha in less than 20 seconds. “What’s going on?” he froze when he saw Maggie.

“Maggie, this is Bucky. He's going to open this door.” Natasha told Maggie, barely looking up at Bucky. “Can you get away from the door and go back to the wall?”

Maggie hesitated for a moment and then moved to the back wall. Natasha stood up. “I think she’s Russian.” she whispered to Bucky. “You need to get the door open. Do you think you can pull it open instead of hitting it or kicking it?”

“I could punch the lock out.” Bucky muttered.

“Do it.” Natasha crouched down again. “Maggie, darling, can you cover your face with your hands for me please?”

Maggie did as Natasha asked her and Bucky punched the lock out of the door with as little force as he possibly could. Glass- and the handle- shattered on the floor and Bucky pushed the door open with his shoulder. Natasha stepped forwards and held her arms out to Maggie, who reached out for her.

“You’re gonna come with us now, okay?” Natasha whispered to Maggie as she picked her up. Maggie kept her blanket clutched tightly in her fist and clung to Natasha, hiding her face in her neck. “It’s okay baby, you’re safe now.” Natasha whispered “Bucky, let’s get out of here. You got my back?”

“Yeah.”

Natasha barely looked up from the ground as they walked out of the base. Bucky was behind her the whole way. They didn’t stop until they were out in the open

“What do we do now?” Bucky asked.

“I'm taking her to the jet. Finish up in there as fast as possible.” Natasha told him. “See if you can in out what they’ve done to her and why she was in there in the first place.”

Bucky nodded and headed back to the base while Natasha walked towards the jet.

“Where are we going?” Maggie whispered so quietly that Natasha almost didn’t hear her.

“You’re going to come with me to a plane and then you’ll come home with me. Do you know what a plane is?”

Natasha felt Maggie nodding into her shoulder.

“Have you been in a plane before?”

Maggie shook her head.

“On the plane you’ll meet my friends Bucky and Thor. Is that okay? And you can have something to eat as well.”

“What will I eat?”

“What is your favourite thing to eat?”

“Chocolate.”

“Then I think we can find some chocolate for you.”

Bruce and Thor were waiting anxiously at the open door of the jet.

“Maggie,” Natasha said softly. “This is Thor and this is Bruce.”

Thor waved, holding his axe behind his back, and Bruce smiled.

“Hello.” Thor said.

Maggie turned her head ever so slightly to look at Thor and Bruce as Natasha stepped into the jet.

“Bruce, could you find some chocolate for Maggie, please?” Natasha asked. “Maggie, did you understand what I said just then?”

“Chocolate?”

“That’s right. Now, Bruce doesn’t speak Russian, so if Thor and I have to talk in English for him to be able to understand us. In a minute he’ll have a little look at you to see if you’re hurt, but I’ll tell you what’s going on. Okay?”

Maggie didn’t respond but clung more tightly to Natasha.

“I won’t be going anywhere.” Natasha soothed. “You can stay on my lap the whole time.” she sat on a bench at the side of the jet. “Look. Bruce has got chocolate.”

Maggie turned her head to look at Bruce. She held her hand out for the bar of chocolate he was carrying and he duly handed it over. It was still in its wrapper, which she tugged at for a few seconds before giving it to Natasha to unwrap.

“Once she's had a bit of chocolate, can you ask her if she hurts anywhere?” Bruce asked Natasha.

There was a huge explosion outside. Natasha, Bruce and Thor exchanged worried looks.

“Is everything okay?” Bruce said into the comms.

“Should I go and blow stuff up?” Thor asked Natasha.

“Maybe in a minute.”

“Bucky says they’re finished.” Bruce told Natasha. “And he says he's found some paperwork.”

“Have they all got out?” Tony asked.

“Yes.”

Natasha turned all her attention to Maggie, who was now halfway through her chocolate bar. “Maggie, can you tell me if you're hurting anywhere or not?”

Maggie shook her head.

“If you start to hurt anywhere, will you tell me?”

“Can I have a drink, please?”

“Of course.” Natasha opened a cabinet next to the chair and took out a bottle of water. As she took the lid off, the door opened and Steve, Clint, Bucky and Tony came in.

Tony froze when he caught sight of Maggie, blocking Clint's view of her. “Why is there a child here?”

“There’s a child?” Clint asked incredulously.

“We rescued her from in there.” Natasha said, glaring at them. “She speaks Russian. You need to keep your voices quiet and calm. She’s scared.”

At the sight of the four new men, Maggie had turned her face to Natasha’s front and had curled herself up more.

“Go and fly us home.” Natasha ordered them. “Bruce can debrief you.”

They filed away to the cockpit, mostly out of sight, lowering their voices to whispers. Bruce went after them, asking if anyone had been hurt.

Thor walked over to Maggie and Natasha and crouched down. “Maggie, would you like to come and look out of the window?”

Maggie didn’t move.

“You can go and look out of the window if you want.” Natasha said softly. “But you don’t have to. Would you like to stay with me?”

“You.”

“Okay. Thor, could you find some more food please?”

After Maggie was settled on a second bar of chocolate, Bucky emerged from the cockpit and gave Natasha some sheets of paper. She read them silently.

207XG3 MAGDALENA

_Possibly capable of moving objects with telekinesis. 3/4 years old. Only understands Russian._

Then there was a date. Maggie had been in the base for three months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely things you said about the last chapter! I'm silvermyfanwy on Tumblr, come say hi!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings for this chapter. I'm silvermyfanwy on Tumblr, come say hi!

“Get Tony to try and track down where she came from.” Natasha told Bucky as she gave him back the papers. Maggie had gone to look out of the plane windows with Thor.

“He’s already trying.”

“Did you find anything else about her there?”

“Only test results and footage of them trying to get her to move stuff. Nothing else about who she is or where she’s been taken from.”

“How strong are her powers?”

“It doesn’t look like they ever managed to get her to use them if she has them. We might be able to tell, though, if she actually has powers or not and what she can do.”

“Poor kid.” Natasha and Bucky looked over to Maggie talking more and more enthusiastically to Thor.

Bucky put an arm around Natasha’s shoulders. “She’s safe now.”

“But she wasn’t safe all that time that they had her. And any other children HYDRA have got locked up? They’re not safe either”

“We’ll make sure they don’t have any other kids.” Bucky said. “And we’re getting closer and closer to getting rid of all of their bases.”

Natasha was silent.

-

An hour later, they landed at the Tower and Maggie, who had been stroking a tennis ball Thor had somehow had in a pocket of his cloak, ran to Natasha’s arms when the gate of the plane opened.

“I called ahead to Pepper.” Tony told Natasha quietly. “She’s contacted social services, someone should be here soon/”

He strode past her to the tower roof before Natasha could say anything, not that she was sure what she would have said. Bucky took her hand and Natasha turned back to Maggie. “You want to go outside?”

Maggie eyed the Tower warily. “Where are we?”

“New York.” Natasha said. “There aren’t many plants up here but I think there might be some flowerpots. We could go and see if they have any flowers in.”

They walked out of the plane; all the others had left already and were doing post-mission tasks.

“What did Tony say to you?” Bucky whispered as they walked out of the plane.

“Pepper’s contacted social services. Apparently a social worker’s on the way here.” Natasha answered.

“That’s a bit quick.”

“That’s far too quick. I’ll show Maggie the plants, you get Wanda ready to talk to her.”

“And if the social workers shows up before Wanda can talk to Maggie?”

“If the social worker shows up any time in the next two hours, I need you to try and hold them off.” Natasha glanced around the rooftop warily and changed to Norwegian. “Social services doesn’t sound like a good idea in the slightest right now. It’ll be Wanda all over again except worse because Maggie’s so much younger and can’t stick up for herself.”

“There are some flowers!” Maggie said suddenly, pointing to one of the plant pots with one hand. She kept clinging to her blanket with the other.

“There are some flowers there! Do you want to go and look at the pretty pink ones?”

Maggie shook her head. “I want to look a the green flowers."

“Do you mean the leaves?” Natasha asked.

Maggie nodded enthusiastically and reached out for them as they got closer. “Leave! Pretty leaves!”

“They’re mint leaves.” Bucky said. “What is their name in Russian?”

“I don’t know. Maggie, these are mint leaves. Do you want to smell one?”

Maggie nodded and Bucky picked a leaf of the bush, which he held out to her. Maggie sniffed it and then sneezed. She giggled out of nowhere, startling Natasha and Bucky into laughing with her.

“Again!” Maggie said.

Natasha set her on the ground and Maggie sat on the concrete, smelling all the leaves on the mint plant and sneezing and giggling.

“Go and find Wanda.” Natasha said to Bucky quietly.

He nodded.

“Can I have a leaf?” Maggie asked Natasha.

Natasha nodded. “Would you like me to pick one for you?”

“Yes, please.” Maggie cupped her hands to take the leaf and smiled at it.

“You can keep it, if you want it.” Natasha said.

Maggie stared at her with wide eyes. “I can eat it?”

“I’ll eat one with you.” Natasha encouraged. “But you don’t have to eat t if you don’t want to and If you think it’s disgusting, you can spit it out.”

“You go first.” Maggie said.

Natasha did as she was told and took a mint leaf off the plant. She stuck her tongue out, put it on her tongue, then put her mouth and chewed.

“Is it nice?” Maggie asked warily. “Open your mouth. Have you eaten it?”

Natasha opened her mouth and let Maggie peer in to make sure that she had actually eaten it.

“Was it nice?”

Natasha nodded.

Maggie ate her mint leaf. “It’s yummy.”

“Can you remember what it was called?”

“Mint leaves!” Maggie said cheerfully. “Can I have another one?”

“Of course!”

They ate mint leaves together until Maggie found that too much mint made her mouth feel strange and they headed for the lift to go and find some different food. Maggie walked by herself, though holding Natasha’s hand, until they reached the entrance lift where she held her arms out and Natasha picked her up again.

“Where have all the others gone?” Maggie asked.

“Bucky has to do a job for me. I'm not sure where the others have gone.”

“Where are we going?” Maggie asked.

“We’re going to go and meet my friend Wanda.”

“How old is Wanda?”

“She’s 16.”

“Wow. That’s really big.”

“It is. How old are you? Do you know?”

Maggie thought for a moment. “Three. Nearly four.”

“Wow. You’re a big girl.”

Maggie nodded. “How old are you?”

“31.”

The lift door opened and Natasha stepped inside. Maggie looked at the walls of the left and held onto Natasha tighter.

“We’ll get out in a minute.” Natasha told her. After a few moments the doors opened and Wanda waved at them. “Hi!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for implied dead grandmother and implied dead parents.

Maggie squeaked and turned her head away from Wanda. “She’s scary!”

“This is Wanda.” Natasha said. “She's a friend. Why are you scared of her?”

“Her hair.” Maggie whispered.

“Wanda, could you tie up your hair?” Natasha whispered. Wanda’s hair was currently brown, blue and purple- Natasha could see how it could be alarming to any child, never mind one who’d been through Maggie’s experiences

Wanda tied her hair up immediately. “Hey Maggie.”

“You can look at her now.” Natasha told Maggie. “She doesn’t look scary anymore.”

“Would you like some grapes?” Wanda offered. “You can come and sit on the sofa and have some grapes and I think we have a toy for you. A toy elephant, would you like that?”

What are grapes?” Maggie asked, looking very firmly at Natasha instead of Wanda.

“Grapes are little bits of fruit. They’re very nice.” Natasha said. “Would you like to try one?”

“What colour are they?”

“Green or purple.”

“Can I have a purple one?”

“Of course.”

They started walking. Maggie looked out at the rooms around her, eyes wide.

“I'm just going to go and get your grapes and the elephant.” Wanda said.

“Okay.” Natasha paused. “Where did you get the elephant from?”

“It’s Peter's. He heard what was going on and said we could give it to her.”

“Is he here?”

Wanda nodded.

“Get him to come and play with Maggie.”

Wanda nodded and walked way.

“There are the sofas.” Natasha said to Maggie. “Do you want to sit on one or do you want to sit on the floor?”

“I want to sit with you.” Maggie said.

“Would you like me to sit on the sofa or on the floor?”

“Sofa.”

A couple of seconds after they sat down, Wanda came into he room, followed by Peter. Wanda was holding a bowl of purple grapes and Peter was holding the elephant.

“Is that boy holding my elephant?” Maggie asked Natasha.

“He is. Peter, darling?”

“Yes, mama?”

“This is Maggie.” Natasha said. “Maggie, this is Peter.”

Peter crouched down in front of the sofa and held the elephant out to Maggie. “This is for you.”

Maggie took the elephant and started stroking it, looking it over and then hugged it tightly, hiding her face in the fur.

“Are you going to give the elephant a name?” Natasha asked Maggie.

“Grey.” Maggie decided.

“Would you like to try a grape?” Wanda offered, holding the bowl out.

Natasha took one off a stalk and offered it to Maggie. Maggie took it and duly heled her hand out for more. Wanda gave her the bowl.

“Maggie, if Peter goes to get some other toys, would you like to play with them?” Natasha offered.

Maggie nodded eagerly. “Yes, please!”

Peter duly went to go and find some more toys.

Maggie rearrange the position of the bowl of grapes on her lap am as she did so, slipped and fell off the sofa. It never hit the floor because Wanda, acting on instinct, flicked a hand and sparks of red light surrounded the toy as it floated onto the sofa. Maggie reached out for Grey and hugged it. “Thank you.” she said to Wanda. “Why are your lights red?”

Wanda shrugged. “That's just the colour they are.” after exchanging a look with Natasha, she asked, “Do you have lights?”

Maggie shook her head. “Grandma has lights but her lights are purple like the grapes.” Maggie said.

“Where is your grandma?” Natasha asked Maggie.

“With the angels.” Maggie said.

“What about your mama and papa?” Natasha asked.

“Grandma said that mama lived in the sea and that papa lived in the woods.”

“Did you ever see your mama or your papa?”

“I saw papa. He lived in the woods. He had a stone but he was always asleep under the ground. Mama slept in the sea.”

Natasha and Wanda exchanged a look of horror as soon as Maggie wasn’t paying attention to them.

Peter came back with a toy dog and a toy rabbit Maggie's face lit up when she saw them.

“Will you play with me?” she asked Natasha.

“Of course.”

As Peter leaned over to give Maggie the dog and the rabbit, he whispered, “The social worker’s in the lobby.”

“Is Bucky there?”

Peter nodded. “She's sorting out paperwork and making phone calls so that she can come up and see Maggie.”

Natasha pursed her lips.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Go and help Bucky. Get JARVIS to tell me when she's at the lift to come in here.”

Peter nodded and left. Natasha turned back to Maggie. “Shall we sit on the floor and play?”

Maggie nodded and climbed onto the floor. Grey and the rabbit and the dog were on her lap; the rabbit appeared to not be as highly valued. Maggie gave Natasha the rabbit and began explaining the set up for the game, listing names for the animals who each appeared to have about three names. After telling Natasha what the name of the rabbit was, she explained that the animals were having a dancing competition.

“Are you Peter and Wanda’s mum?” Maggie asked.

Natasha nodded.

“So are they brother and sister?”

“Yes.”

Maggie began the game. After a few minute, Maggie involved Wanda, who became the mountain the animals were dancing on top of.

“Ms Romanov, the social worker’s approaching.” Jarvis said suddenly.

Natasha tried not to show Maggie that anything had changed. “Thank you Jarvis.”

“What do we do?” Wanda whispered.

“Maggie, I just have to go and deal with something for a bit. I’ll be back in a minute. Wanda will satay here and carry on playing with you.” Natasha said. “Okay?”

It was clearly not okay. Maggie’s eyes widened with horror and fear an she immediately went up to Natasha and wrapped her arms around her middle and clung to her. “Stay here. please don’t go, where are you going?”

“I’ll stay here.” Natasha quickly amended. “I won’t leave you.”

The lift opened and the social worker walked in, followed by Bucky and Peter.

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for Chapter One:  
> Descriptions on canon-typical violence and a burning building  
> A small child is found being held prisoner at a HYDRA base
> 
> I'm silvermyfanwy on Tumblr, come say hi!


End file.
